Tag Archives: uk

Aldeburgh Lifeboat

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Our UK trip had a bit of an RNLI feel to it.  We spent some time at the Bembridge lifeboat station as showed up here and here.  When we got to Aldeburgh, it turned out that they also had a lifeboat station.  It was quite a modern facility and very different to the Bembridge station.  Bembridge has a boathouse with a slipway straight in to the water.  Aldeburgh has a trailer mounted boat with a tractor unit to take it down across the shingle to the water’s edge.

The building has space for the boat on one side and the tractor on the other.  There is also an inshore boat.  The facility seems to be pretty modern with some nice space for the crew to keep their equipment and change when they need to go into service.  It was a lot quieter than the Bembridge station with only the occasional visitor but worth a look if you happen to be on this part of the Suffolk coast.

Tornados and a Jag – My Old Handling Buddies

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In my days in the aerodynamics department at Warton, I spent time working on the current aircraft handling section.  This included a number of types but the main focus was on jaguar and Tornado work.  When we were walking around the hangars at Duxford, there were examples of both jets on display.  The Tornado was a big part of what I worked on and I had always loved the jet as it was coming in to service at the time I was getting interested in aircraft.  The GR4 version is on display.

The Jaguar had been around a long time when I was getting into planes and the Tornado ended up replacing the Jaguars in the RAF Germany strike role.  The jet continued for a lot longer though and got some decent upgrades late in life.  I had a great time climbing over a jet in the hangar at Warton as we were looking at clearing a new store on the overwing pylon.  A lot of fun!

Ribblehead Viaduct

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The Victorians built railways across the UK in a serious way.  Geography was not a barrier and tunnels would get you through hills and viaducts would address valleys.  They also liked them to look pretty cool.  There are numerous viaducts across the UK – some of which are well known and others of which are rather anonymous.  One of the more famous viaducts is the Ribblehead.  It is part of the Settle to Carlisle line which was once lined up for closure but now seems to be secure.

The main shot here was taken from my friend, Mark’s, Ercoupe as we had a flight from Blackpool and up over Yorkshire and Cumbria.  We were flying after work so the evening light was setting in and the shadows of the viaduct were very nice.  Since this was the days of film, there aren’t lots of shots to choose from.  However, this one worked out well enough.  Nancy and I visited the area from the ground when we lived up that way and here are a couple of additional shots of the viaduct from the ground.

London from the Air

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Digging back in to the archives today.  Back in about 2005, I was heading back to the UK for work.  Our flight arrived in to Heathrow early in the morning and the approach route took us across the center of the city.  I was sitting on the right side of the aircraft so was able to get some good shots of the city.  My favorite shot was as we turned over the top of Waterloo and looking down at the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.

I also got some good views from other areas.  A nice view across the city which shows just how close everything is within the cities of London and Westminster.  We also came south of Kensington which gave a good view of the museum complex and Hyde Park – an area where I lived for three years as a student.  The next shot is of Kew Gardens.  The glass house and the pagoda are both visible.  These have been sitting in the archive for a long time but finally make their way to the blog.

Northrop Grumman Firebird

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Northrop Grumman brought the Firebird to Fairford for RIAT.  RIAT is a big public show but it has developed a significant trade element to it and Firebird was clearly aimed at that audience.  It is a Scaled Composites design (with Northrop Grumman having bought Scaled a while back) and, while it has a cockpit, apparently it has the option to be flown unmanned.  I don’t know whether this is well tested or not.  Nor do I know the state of production examples.  I believe the one at RIAT was the prototype.

It was parked in the static park for a portion of the time I was there.  I did see it getting towed across to the north side at one point, presumably so it could be parked in a hangar rather than left out.  Supposedly, there is a US Government order for some of these and I imagine they will be fitted with some interesting systems.  Whether I shall ever see one is a different story.

Trafalgar Anchor

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If you are used to a modern shape of an anchor, particularly one for a large ship, the old style of anchors in the days of the early 1800s will be rather strange looking.  They look like a giant version of the sort of anchor you would see on a small boat.  This example sits on the seafront in Southsea and comes from a ship that fought in the battle of Trafalgar.  It seems in pretty good shape.  I wonder whether that is a feature of the materials used or the result of lots of bits of it being replaced over the years.

Odd F-16 Vortices

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With a sharp LERX, the F-16 regularly pulls a nice vortex on each side as it maneuvers hard.  Getting a shot of that is not a surprise.  However, I have recently been slowly making my way through shots from RIAT (months after the event) and I was working through some shots of the Belgian F-16 display.  I came across a shot of the jet pulling and rolling, taken from astern of the aircraft.  I noticed a second, smaller vortex trailing from the tail plane.  It appears that, with differential tail for the roll, there is a vortex coming from the tail plane – possibly at the route.  This pleases the old aero guy within!

Apache Wall of Fire

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The British Army display of the WAH-64D Apache is one I have seen plenty of pictures of but I haven’t had much of a chance to shoot it myself.  The majority of the display is pretty standard stuff with them maneuvering tightly in front of the crowd, much like the US army’s display of the similar type.  They do use a little bit of pyro during the display but the finale is a wall of fire.  I was a bit concerned about my position compared to theirs as they positioned for the big moment as the background looked like it might not be all fire.  However, things turned out well enough and I got the sort of shot I was hoping for.

Turkish Phantoms

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F-4 Phantoms are rapidly disappearing from service.  They remain in a few countries but their replacements are lined up in most cases.  The Turkish Air Force is still using them and brought some examples to RIAT.  They made their way to the west end for us to get some shots.  These jets had been planned for replacement by the F-35A Lightning II.  However, with the political fall out of the Turkish acquisition of Russian missile systems, they have been blocked from the program.  Maybe the F-4s will live on a little longer after all.

Hansajet Throwback

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The Hansajet was an odd airframe and one of those examples of manufacturers trying innovative things out that didn’t really go anywhere.  It had a slightly forward swept wing to improve efficiency but forward swept wings have largely failed to gain any traction.  It was operated by the Luftwaffe and this example was an attendee at an Air Fete at Mildenhall, I am going to say in 1991 but that may be wrong.  I saw it on approach and then again in the static display.  Quite a neat looking jet I think.  Anyone know if any still fly?